'MATTER OF TASTE': GO AHEAD, TRY IT.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

``A Matter of Taste'' starts out as a creepy, identity-blurring psychological mystery along the lines of some Harold Pinter thing like ``The Servant.'' It then veers off into French snob comedy before circling back around to expose a game of manipulation and need unique unto itself.

Like the best French thrillers, Bernard Rapp's suspense film builds its tension elliptically, emphasizing the questions behind its odd characters' motivations before springing its surprises. Actually, it's a study of an utterly unpredictable trap-layer, as seen through the eyes of his increasingly willing prey. Yet the core of what's really driving both men remains deliciously uncertain, and all the more disturbing as it consumes both of their lives.

Jean-Pierre Lorit is Nicolas, an aimless but likable young man working as a waiter in Lyon. A lunch guest, the insanely wealthy Frederic Delamont, asks Nicolas to test an appetizer, is impressed with his description and - voila - is soon offering the youth a ridiculous amount of money to be his personal taster.

Since Frederic is played by the suave-but-shifty Bernard Giraudeau (``Water Drops on Burning Rocks''), we can only presume he has an ulterior agenda. He does, but it isn't what you'd initially suspect. Controlling in the extreme - he demands that Nicolas quit smoking cold turkey and be on call 24-7, and that's just for starters - Frederic makes it clear early on that he wishes for the young man to become as much like him as possible.

While this and other job intrusions do not sit well with his newsstand-running girlfriend Beatrice (Florence Thomassin), Nicolas becomes increasingly intrigued with Frederic's privileged lifestyle and obsessed with pleasing the boss. But even though he takes to the refined tastes Frederic introduces (and amusingly alienates his scruffy circle of friends), the rich guy's tricks and tests - which become more psychologically devastating as they weld the men's interdependence tighter - drive Nicolas to the brink of nervous collapse.

Beautifully acted at every turn and rarely, if ever, predictable, ``A Matter of Taste'' succeeds at keeping an audience constantly guessing without feeling the least bit mechanical about it (to see what the opposite effect is like, look no further than David Mamet's current caper mousetrap ``Heist'').

Even with tipping his hand early on - the story is told in flashbacks to a magistrate, played by French New Wave icon Jean-Pierre Leaud, investigating a crime Nicolas has obviously committed at film's start - Rapp proves deft enough at exploring the greatest of all mysteries, people's personalities, to keep us squirming and mesmerized from start to finish.

``A MATTER OF TASTE''

(Not rated: language, sex, nudity, drug use)

The stars: Bernard Giraudeau, Jean-Pierre Lorit, Florence Thomassin, Jean-Pierre Leaud.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Bernard Rapp. Written by Rapp and Gilles Taurand. Produced by Catherine Dussart and Chantal Perrin. Released by Attitude Films.

Running time: One hour, 30 minutes.

Playing: Nuart, West L.A.

Our rating: Three and one half stars